Sunday’s talk shows drew out lawmakers and administration officials on a range of topics, from Israel to the effort in Congress to continue funding the Department of Homeland Security. Here’s a roundup of the top five quotes from the Sunday shows: Read More »

When Congress last week voted to authorize President Barack Obama to train and equip Syrian rebels as part of a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Dec. 11, many lawmakers expressed reservations about the scope of the operation – some worried about an open-ended operation and others said they wanted the president to go further to defeat the Islamic State, known also as ISIS or ISIL.

On the Sunday news talk shows, several lawmakers followed up with comments about the president’s strategy and whether the operation to defeat the extremist militants would ultimately require boots on the ground. Here are six: Read More »

House Republicans are split over how to deal with an expiring law that provides government-backed insurance against terrorist attacks. There’s no clear pathway forward despite a 93-4 vote to reauthorize it in the Senate two weeks ago, and if Congress doesn’t act by Dec. 31, the law will expire.

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) was signed into law in 2002 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and stemmed in part from fears that private insurers wouldn’t backstop certain real-estate projects or potential targets like pipelines because of uncertainty over who would cover losses from a future terrorist attack. It has been reauthorized twice, in 2005 and 2007. Read More »

Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) said President Barack Obama’s decision to exchange Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five detainees being held at a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was legal but wrong. Read More »

The Sunday talk shows were heavy on Russia, with the winter Olympics underway in Sochi and with U.S.-Russian relations strained by a number of issues, including Moscow’s granting of temporary asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Here are five quotes:

Michael McFaul, the outgoing U.S. ambassador in Russia, asked on NBC’s Meet the Press whether he had been bugged by the Russians:

“As we remind all Americans that come to this country, the Russian government has tremendous capabilities and legal, by their law, of intercepting phone calls, emails etc. There is no doubt that I am a primary subject of interest for them and from time to time they have also leaked conversations that I have had that I thought were private. That’s just the state of working in Russia.”

Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), a member of the House intelligence and homeland security committees, speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation on Snowden:

“This was unprecedented, what Snowden did here. It can never be allowed to happen again. I know already there’s been a number of reforms the NSA has instituted, but I think this is very reminiscent of what happened with [Robert] Hanssen, the FBI spy, where the FBI, the NSA are so concerned about outside forces penetrating their system that they just did not take the proper precautions internally.” Read More »

Sen. Charles Schumer tried to break the impasse over immigration Sunday, suggesting that Congress pass a law that wouldn’t take effect until after President Barack Obama leaves office. There was no indication, however, that House Republicans would accept the proposal.

The New York Democrat’s suggestion was in response to House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), who said last week that it would be difficult to pass an immigration overhaul because House Republicans don’t trust Mr. Obama to enforce the law.

“There’s a simple solution: Let’s enact the law this year, but simply not let it actually start ’til 2017, after President Obama’s term is over,” Mr. Schumer said on NBC. A spokesman for Mr. Schumer said afterward that he had not floated this idea to House Republicans, his Democratic colleagues, or to the White House before offering it publicly. Read More »

The government shutdown and the coming fight over the U.S. Treasury Department’s ability to borrow were the main focus of the Sunday talk shows. Below are some of the key points made by today’s talkers, including Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who appeared on four shows.

1. “We’ve never gotten to the point where the United States government has operated without the ability to borrow. It’s very dangerous. It’s reckless, because the reality is, there are no good choices if we run out of borrowing capacity and we run out of cash. It will mean that the United States, for the first time since 1789, would be not paying its bills, hurting the full faith and credit, because of a political decision,” Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, speaking on CNN’s State of the Union about what will happen if Congress doesn’t raise the so-called debt limit.

2. “We’re not going to pass a clean debt limit increase…. We’re not going down that path. It is time to deal with America’s problems. How can you raise the debt limit and do nothing about the underlying problem? … My goal here is to have a serious conversation about those things that are driving the deficit and driving the debt up. And the president’s refusal to sit down and have a conversation about this is putting our nation at risk of default.” House Speaker John Boehner (R. Ohio), speaking on ABC’s This Week. Read More »

“This is a very sophisticated attack, very similar to what we saw in Mumbai,” Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) said on ABC’s “This Week.” In the Indian city, more than 160 people were killed in 2008 in about a dozen coordinated attacks.

In Kenya, the gunmen are still holding people hostage in a shopping mall in Nairobi as the siege, which has already resulted in 59 deaths, goes into its second day.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said he would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Syria, but voiced doubts over the Russian proposal that would require Syria to relinquish control of its chemical weapons.

“Diplomacy is always a better outcome than military action, but I will say I am somewhat skeptical of those that are involved in the diplomatic discussions today,” Mr. Boehner told reporters Tuesday. “I’m skeptical of it because of the actors involved.”

The top House Republican did not withdraw his support for President Barack Obama, who is seeking congressional approval to take military action against Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons… Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.